Chichester City Ladies find Crawley Wasps a nuisance for second time

This time league thoughts were firmly on the mind of the green and whites as they looked to kick-start a surge away from the bottom of the table.

In front of an enthusiastic crowd Chichester made a bright start with good pace from the likes of Rebecca Bell and the restored Tash Wild causing the Wasps some worries.

Gemma Simmonds had the first crack at goal when afforded time to have a go from long distance but her effort went over.

Crawley were having difficulty settling on a difficult pitch, but they began to find their feet with Charlotte Owen set up by Tash Stephens to have a shot which was only just over with keeper Izzy Forster well beaten.

Chichester went even closer to breaking the deadlock close to the half hour when Simmonds fired goalwards only for Frankie Gibbs to make a good save.

Right on half-time the Wasps pressure drew reward when Chichester failed to deal with a corner. Kemina Webber turned in the box and fired low past Forster despite being in a crowd of players.

The Wasps made a bright start to the second period and had Chichester wobbling at times.

Chichester did force some corners late on but failed to make anything of them and a relieved Crawley were left to celebrate at the final whistle, increasing their lead at the top of the table.

With the home game against Oxford postponed last Sunday Chichester will have to wait a little longer to get back to winning ways.

The players’ efforts and the excellent management of the squad by Sadie Blakely in recent games has not gone unnoticed and a rest may come in handy before the next test.

Chi Ladies: Forster, Martins, Simmonds, Fox, Laczkovszki, Burke, Wild, Bell, Phelps, Howden, Lake. Subs: Cook, White, Staple, Rowlands, Thorns.